At 2:42 PM -0700 4/17/01, Dave Shaw wrote:
>ebase is set up to store a record of constituent communications (not
>the communication itself). For example, the Contacts file contains
>records of letters and emails you sent to a constituent. The Actions
>or Payments files contain a record of the response (sent you a
>letter, made a donation, etc.) You could add fields to Contacts and
>Actions to record the location of the original document. The
>directory and file name for a letter, for example, or the mailbox
>name and date for an email, or the file drawer for a paper copy.
>You're limited only by your ingenuity and the time you can dedicate
>to filing, as Walt suggests.
This is a good suggestion and Walt Daniels made some others. And, the
problem is retrieval whenever review is needed and the ability to
follow-up in a timely way. The larger the database (which is a
reflection of the size of the constituency), the more difficult both
problems become. Other databases permit one to store and retrieve
every message that is generated from the database but that doesn't
cover the storage and retrieval of incoming documents unless you scan
them in. All of this can get time-consuming and tedious.
But the database (ebase or any other) is only a tool and therefore
only a facilitator in a larger system. When I ask about storing
constituent communications, I know that ebase must play a role (and
may play an improved role as time goes by) but I'm interested in the
"rest" of the system--and I'd truly like to know how ebase users are
handling this part of the larger system?
Walt and Dave are insiders with particular needs and solutions. I'd
like to know how us "ordinary" folks address the issue.
--
simplicity ~ personal responsibility ~ compassion ~ community ~ justice
a unified process for developing full human potential
John Watkins Executive Director The Simple Society
303 Amherst St. Nashua, NH 03063 603-889-0111
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://simsoc.org
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